Filipino protesters chant slogans outside the Chinese consular office in Manila Thursday. Photo: AFP

Safeguarding sovereignty over the South China Sea is a shared obligation for both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, an official said in Beijing, a statement which may herald an inclination to cooperate with Taiwan on the issue.

"It is a shared obligation for people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to safeguard sovereignty over the Nansha Islands and its adjacent waters," Yang Yi, a spokesperson with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told a press conference Tuesday.

Taiwan's army said Tuesday that it would send a fleet of ships to the South China Sea and would station tanks on Taiping, the biggest of the Nansha Islands, at the end of June, the Taipei-based United Evening News reported.

The paper quoted local maritime and coastal patrol authorities as saying that the recent tensions would not impede scheduled patrol missions in the South China Sea.

The Taiwan military is to replace the current troops stationed on the island under its control with better-trained marines to boost combat capacity, according to Hong Kong-based Phoenix Television.

Local authorities and military in Taiwan declined to comment when contacted by the Global Times Thursday.

Some Internet users in the mainland welcomed the strong stance by Taiwan authorities and urged mainland officials to take tougher measures on the issue.

Taipei-based Want Daily commented June 10 that the mainland and Taiwan should hold talks on making joint efforts to safeguard the territory and maintain stability in the South China Sea.

In an editorial, New Life Daily called on Taiwan authorities to "maintain flexibility and cooperate with the mainland so as to strengthen our efforts to safeguard the sovereignty over the South China Sea on condition of not compromising our dignity and only when necessary."

Chen Guoming, an editor of Taiwan-based Defense International, told the Global Times Thursday that cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan is feasible and should be encouraged.

However, some analysts poured cold water on the prospects of cross-Straits cooperation on this issue as they believed it might "cost the mainland in recognizing Taiwan independence."

South Korea's Yonhap News Agency speculated this was a strategic decision made by Beijing, toward which Taiwan is expected to respond positively.

The Chinese mainland has declared indisputable sovereignty over the islands and their adjacent waters.
Some Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia, also lay claim to parts of the South China Sea, which contains important shipping routes and is believed to hold rich oil and gas reserves.

An official in Beijing Thursday downplayed any implication of the cruise by one of the country's largest civilian patrol vessels in the South China Sea, saying that it was sailing from Zhuhai to Singapore on a visit. 

"The Haixun 31 of the Maritime Safety Administration has set off on its voyage from Zhuhai to Singapore on June 15th. It is a normal visit," foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Thursday in Beijing.

This marks the first visit to a foreign country by a Chinese mainland civilian patrol ship.

The ship will carry out monitoring of shipping routes in the South China Sea and oversee the operation of offshore oil platforms and ships as well as examine water pollution, according to China National Radio.

The Haixun 31 weighs 3,000 tons with a helicopter launch pad and can sustain a voyage of 40 days at sea at a stretch. It will take a journey of 1,400 nautical miles, passing through the Xisha, Dongsha and Nansha Islands before docking in Singapore.

Vietnam held two military drills in the South China Sea on Monday for nearly 10 hours, and the Philippines is scheduled to conduct a joint drill with the US on June 28.

"China is committed to resolving the South China Sea issue through bilateral consultations with concerned countries. We are committed to safeguarding peace and stability of the South China Sea along with relevant parties," Hong said, responding to a question on whether the voyage is good for regional stability.

Patrolling the waters shows China's calmness and resolution in safeguarding its own sovereignty, Zhuang Guotu, director of the Center for Southeast Asia Studies at Xiamen University, told the Global Times.

"China is sending a signal that it is willing and capable of solving problems through peaceful means," he said.